When deciding where to live, several factors come into play. Proximity to family is important to some, while career opportunities are a driving force for many as well. Texas is home to several major metropolitan areas as well as a multitude of charming small towns. Recently, USA Today and 24/7 Wall St. compiled a list of America’s 50 Most Liveable Cities and three Texas towns made the list. A range of factors helped compare U.S. cities objectively. Low crime, a healthy economy, and affordability are just a few examples of universally desirable attributes in any community that helped to determine who made the list.
Here are the three Texas cities named on the “50 Most Liveable” list:
Photo: Facebook/FlowerMound
Flower Mound is located approximately 20 miles northwest of Dallas and 25 miles northeast of Fort Worth. According to 24/7 Wall St., the typical household in Flower Mound, Texas earns about $131,500 annually, the sixth most of any city. After adjusting for the area’s low cost of living, the median income in Flower Mound is the highest of any U.S. city. Just as a large share of area residents are wealthy, very few face serious financial hardship. Fewer than 5% of the city’s population lives in poverty–less than a third of the statewide poverty rate.
Largely financially secure, Flower Mound residents are also generally safe from the threat of violent crime. There were fewer than 50 violent crimes for every 100,000 Flower Mound residents in 2016. In comparison, there were 434 violent crimes per 100,000 people in Texas and 386 per 100,000 people in the United States.
Photo: Facebook/FriscoChamber
Along with Flower Mound, Frisco is also considered to be part of the Dallas/Fort Worth metroplex and is conveniently located approximately 25 miles from both Dallas Love Field and Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport.
According to 24/7 Wall St., Frisco is a fast-growing suburb of the Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington metro area and one of the best places to live in the country. Over the past 10 years, Frisco’s population has increased by 73%, the third fastest growth of any city. Frisco is also one of the wealthiest cities in the country and has one of the lowest costs of living. The typical household in Frisco earns $124,829 a year, more than twice the national median household income of $57,617.
Photo: Facebook/amslibrary
Atascocita is considered a suburb of Houston, located 18 miles northeast of downtown Houston in northeastern Harris County. 24/7 Wall St. ranked Atascocita as number 21 on its list of 50 Most Liveable Cities due to the fact that the poverty rate is only 4.2% in Atascocita, Texas, making it one of the lowest of any U.S. city. Adults with a college education are less likely than those with lower educational attainment to live in poverty, and 39.6% of adult city residents have a four-year college degree–a far greater share than the 31.3% of American adults.
Well-educated and financially secure, Atascocita’s population also lives in an affordable city. The typical area home costs only 1.9 times the median household income in the area. Nationwide, the median home value is 3.6 times the median household income.
